Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3816 Jul 19- Aug 2 2019 | Page 29

July 19 - Aug 2, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 14
I
27
Shallow Water Rockfishing with Black Bass Gear
have known my friend Mike Rheuby for many
years having fished against him in black bass tour-
naments back in the day. More recently I have fished with
him quite a bit and I always enjoy the time on the water.
It’s funny because it seems even though we are chasing
the “little green fish”, much of our conversation is
centered around our shared interest in rockfishing. Mike
would say to me, “Once you start rockfishing, you’re
gonna be hooked.” Well, he was right on target with that
prediction.
Recently Mike invited me to join him and his 14 year
old son Ryan for a day of shallow water rockfishing with
Fish on Charters aboard the Samantha Irene located in
Bodega Bay. I have fished with Captain Jeff Caramella
on a number of occasions so it did not take much to
convince me.
We met up with Captain Jeff and the rest of our party
at the harbor. A quick stop for gas at the fuel dock and
we were soon on our way. This was my first rockfish trip
of the year and I was excited to get fishing. As a bonus,
Captain Jeff told me that we would be pulling crab pots
as well.
Once we cleared the break
water outside the harbor, Captain
Jeff made a path north along the
beautiful Sonoma Coast. The
weather was good and the ocean
was flat, allowing us to make our
destination in short order.
Captain Jeff started the drift
out in shallow water. Mike and
Ryan chose to fish a mixture of
swimbaits and bars, hoping to
catch a lingcod or big rock fish.
Like true bass fishermen, the two
kept changing up baits until they
found what the fish wanted. Once
they made the switch to smaller
bars, they started to connect with
rockfish on a consistent basis.
I opted to fish a freshwater
bass action spinning rod with a small 3.5” AA Shad Tail
Swimbait on a ¼ oz jighead for schooling black and blue
rockfish. The fish were suspended in the water column
from the surface down to 20 feet. Catching them is remi-
niscent of fishing for suspended freshwater spotted bass
with a small swimbait or a dart head worm.
Just as the tide began to turn, Captain Jeff made the
decision to move out to deeper water in search of lingcod
and a larger grade of rockfish. It did not take long to
realize that Captain Jeff had made the right move as
Ryan’s swimbait got hammered by a big fish. After a
spirited battle, Ryan brought a giant vermillion to the side
of the boat where Captain Jeff was waiting to gaff the fish
and swing it over the rail.
Like a light switch the bite kicked into high gear as the
lingcod and big rock fish went on the chew.
Mike is an excellent bass fisherman and an equally
skilled rockfish angler. Before long Mike was on a good
swimbait bite. First a nice ling then big vermillions and
olives came over the rail.
Captain Jeff handed me his favorite swimbait rod, a
C4 Custom built on a Rainshadow blank by Chris Saiz. I
tied on a 7” AA Pearl colored
Bad Bubba Shad and started
casting. In short time I felt
the rod load up as I reeled
hard and leaned into the fish.
I could tell by the way it was
fighting that the fish was a
nice lingcod. I fought the
fish to the side of the boat
and Captain Jeff did the rest.
I was on the board with my
first lingcod of the season. I
continued to fish the swimbait
and I was able to connect
with a nice China Rockfish
and a few vermillions before
FISH SNIFFER
COUNTRY
by
Mark Fong
Captain Jeff shows off a beautiful Sonoma Coast lingcod
that smacked an orange swimbait.
Photo by JEFF CARAMELLA, Fish On Charters.
it was time to head home.
On the way back to the harbor we stopped to pull crab
pots, ending the day with full limits of dungeness crab to
go along with our limits of lingcod and rockfish.
In addition to rock and lingcod fishing, Fish On
Charters offers in season salmon and dungeness crab
trips. For a great fishing adventure, check out Fish On
Charters at www.fishoncharter.net, follow them on
Facebook or call 707-490-4067.
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Ryan used a swimbait to tempt this massive vermilion
rockfish while fishing out of Bodega Bay.
Photo by JEFF CARAMELLA, Fish On Charters.
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